So most of you will by now be aware that Al Jazeera is now beIN Sports. Why? I hear you ask. Well the answer is that they wanted to bring it in-line with the broadcasters other worldwide assets.

Nasser Ghanim Al Khelaifi, Chairman of beIN SPORTS said “In a world where sports has the unique power to unite people, beIN SPORTS seeks to propel fans into a new age of sports programming by providing unmatched global sports coverage to its customers.”

He then added “The new network will transform TVs into portals of unlimited immersive sporting action that speak to each fan in their own language, allowing events to live on long after the final whistle blows,”

These statements seem rather comical after the recent Saturday 3pm kick off restrictions have left many customers unhappy, having paid their yearly subscription upfront and can now only look forward to around half of the remaining fixtures. These restrictions were implemented due to the fact that Al Jazeera cards were being sold and shipped out to the UK. Instead of dealing with their ‘footprint’ issue and making it unavailable in the UK, they have instead decided to annoy all their customers.

There have also been complaints regarding the language of the commentary available. Not only was the package advertised as showing ALL the Saturday 3pm kick offs, it was also advertised as an International package however many customers cannot get English commentary on Premiership matches.

This morning we received an email direct from Astra. Here is what it said…

“As part of SES’ ongoing fleet renewal programme, we will be transferring all the UK Spot Beam transponders currently operating on ASTRA 1N across to ASTRA 2E.

This move at the 28.2/28.5ºEast orbital location will take place over several weeks beginning early February 2014.

The transfer will have no adverse implications for viewers in the UK and Ireland as the affected channels will continue to operate on the same frequencies and will be broadcast at the same, or slightly improved power levels, across the UK and Ireland.

TV viewers outside the UK and Ireland may see an impact and may not be able to receive channels from ASTRA 2E UK Spot Beam, which has a smaller footprint than ASTRA 1N. The new footprint on SES’ replacement fleet has been designed to meet the requirements of UK and Irish broadcasters who target their channels for distribution in the UK and/or Ireland. UK and Irish broadcasters hold broadcasting rights only for the UK and/or Ireland but not for other countries.”

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We are getting closer to the point where we will be all watching UK TV online via IPTV Set Top Boxes. For more information regarding IPTV please do not hesitate to call us, get in touch via Facebook or Twitter, or send us an email.

For the past 6 weeks Astra 2E has been at 43.5°East whilst testing has taken place. There are rumours that testing will be completed this week and then the bird will be on it’s way to 28.2E.

Whether the switch over will take place before Christmas remains unclear but the general concensus is there will be a much tighter footprint on the Uk which will affect us most of all in the Costa del Sol and Southern Europe.

What are the alternatives to Astra?

We have a range of solutions for both satellite tv and internet tv providing UK channels. If you would like more information email us at info@techno-vision.es or visit us at our office in Nerja.